Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. DoReveal: An AI-powered qualitative research platform that transcribes and analyzes interviews, focus groups, and meeting recordings to surface themes and insights. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Buzz when transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline matters most, and DoReveal when generating codebooks, themes, personas, and journey maps from research recordings matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper.
An AI-powered qualitative research platform that transcribes and analyzes interviews, focus groups, and meeting recordings to surface themes and insights.
Buzz is a widely used open-source desktop application that transcribes and translates audio offline on the user's personal computer, powered by OpenAI's Whisper. It is MIT-licensed and actively maintained, with v1.4.4 released in March 2026, and it has grown a large community with roughly 19.7k GitHub stars. Buzz runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with installation options including Flatpak, Snap, and PyPI. It supports both importing existing audio and video files and real-time transcription from microphone input, and it can export results in formats such as TXT, SRT, and VTT for subtitling and documentation. The app includes an advanced transcript viewer with search and playback controls, a watch folder for automatically transcribing new files, and a command-line interface for automation. It offers GPU acceleration through CUDA for Nvidia cards, Apple Silicon support, and Vulkan for many other GPUs, which makes faster transcription practical even on laptops. Buzz also provides speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio, plus a plugin system that adds capabilities like AI-generated summaries. Because all processing happens locally, recordings and transcripts remain on the user's machine rather than being uploaded to a cloud service. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
DoReveal is a web-based AI platform built for qualitative researchers who need to turn interviews, focus groups, and meeting recordings into structured insights. Users upload audio and video files, paste or import transcripts, or connect Zoom recording links; the platform also offers a bot for live meeting recordings, with live capture via Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet described as coming soon. It transcribes the audio, automatically identifies speakers and distinguishes moderators from participants, and accepts input in over 100 languages with analysis output in around 10 languages. Analysis features include structured research grids, thematic pattern discovery, automated codebook generation, persona and journey-map building, a quote finder with audio/video clip creation, report generation, and an AI chat for interrogating data using frameworks such as Jobs-to-Be-Done and Emotional Laddering. It targets freelance researchers, research agencies, in-house teams, and academics across sectors like pharmaceuticals, technology, and consulting. The company states user data is never used to train models, offers automatic PHI/PII redaction, and encrypts data at rest and in transit.
Best suited for
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); DoReveal is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Buzz | DoReveal |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Offline transcription and translation using OpenAI's Whisper | Transcription with automatic speaker identification, distinguishing moderators from participants |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription from microphone input | Support for audio/video uploads, pasted or imported transcripts, and Zoom recording links |
| Team usage | Speaker identification and speech separation for noisy audio | AI chat to interrogate data, compare cohorts, and trace evidence to source quotes |
| Integrations | Exports to TXT, SRT, and VTT | Automated codebook generation, thematic analysis, and structured research grids |
| Languages & capture | Watch folder for automatic transcription and a command-line interface | Quote finder with audio/video clip creation and automated report generation |
| Best-fit workflow | GPU acceleration via CUDA, Apple Silicon, and Vulkan | Input support for 100+ languages with analysis output in multiple languages |
Buzz
Choose Buzz if you need transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline — strengths include fully offline so audio and transcripts stay on the user's computer.
DoReveal
Choose DoReveal if you need transcribing and analyzing in-depth interviews and focus groups for ux or market research — strengths include purpose-built for qualitative research workflows such as interviews and focus groups, beyond simple meeting notes.
Buzz
DoReveal
It depends on your workflow. Buzz is strong for transcribing recorded meetings, interviews, podcasts, or lectures offline, while DoReveal is strong for transcribing and analyzing in-depth interviews and focus groups for ux or market research. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Buzz is a free tier with paid upgrades and DoReveal is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Buzz and DoReveal.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. CLOVA Note: South Korean AI meeting-minutes service by Naver that records meetings, transcribes speech, separates speakers, and generates summaries and action items. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Calendly Notetaker: An AI meeting notetaker built into the Calendly scheduling platform that records meetings and generates summaries, transcripts, and action items. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. CallBro: Bot-free AI meeting assistant that transcribes calls from system audio and produces structured notes without joining the call. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Callabo: Korean AI meeting-notes service from Return Zero that records, transcribes, summarizes, and analyzes meetings for individuals and teams. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Canopy Notetaker: AI meeting assistant built for accounting firms that records client calls and produces accounting-specific summaries and tasks. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. CaptureMyMeeting: AI meeting assistant that imports Zoom and Webex cloud recordings to generate notes, action items, and insights. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Carv: AI assistant for recruiters that records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews and intake calls, then drafts documents and updates the ATS. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Castmagic: AI content platform that transcribes podcasts, videos, and recorded meetings with speaker diarization and turns them into show notes, summaries, and other assets. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Celeste AI: Brazilian Portuguese-focused AI voice and transcription platform offering on-demand transcription plus a meeting assistant and AI notes, with credit-based and subscription plans. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Choppity: AI video and audio platform that transcribes recordings, generates styled captions, and turns long-form content into short clips. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Claap: Async video plus AI meeting recording and CRM updates This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Cleft Notes: AI voice-note app that turns spoken thoughts and meeting audio into structured, organized notes. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.